The invention relates to iterative decoding, and more particularly to the technique of iterative decoding a code block using forward and backward recursions.
Forward error correction (FER) codes such as turbo codes, for example, are used in many of today's communication devices because of their high error correction capabilities. Unfortunately, however iterative decoding of an FER code in a decoder using forward and backward recursions may require a large amount of memory and/or complex hardware, and may lead to computational expense and latency.
Several approaches are known to improve the performance of an iterative decoder. Max-Log-MAP algorithms are used to reduce the computational complexity. The sliding window technique may be applied to limit the amount of stored data and to reduce latency. Parallel decoder architectures allow for high throughput. Notwithstanding, the reduction of memory space, latency and computational effort remains an ongoing challenge.
For these and other reasons there is a need for the present invention.